Annika went outside of the circle and into a nearby wooded area. Not sure what to do, I quickly followed behind her.
"Grab as many sticks as you can carry," she said when she noticed me. "The dryer the better."
A moment later, Remy joined us. We spent a few minutes gathering huge bundles of firewood and then retreated back to the stone circle.
"Meri and I have drawn the sacred circle," Amelda said. "All we need is for the three of you to step inside and I will seal it."
Once the circle was ready, Remy put some of the wood under the cauldron. "Does this look right?" he asked his grandmother.
"That should be good. We can always add a few more branches if we need it. Better to do that than to start off too hot."
Amelda lit the fire with a flick of her fingers, and everyone except me took a big step back. I did too when I noticed they had backed up, but it would have been nice if someone had told me.
"What do I do?" I asked.
"Just observe," Meri answered, “and you might want to sit down.”
"Why?" I asked.
Why... became apparent quickly.
The smell coming from the cauldron wasn't bad, but it was heavy. It crept into my nose like monstrous tentacles and went right for my brain.
I found myself sitting on the cool stone floor that lined the inside of the circle. My palms pressed down on them as I swayed slightly from side to side.
"Brighton, are you okay?" Remy asked, but he didn't move away from the cauldron.
He had to pay attention.
"She's fine," Meri asked. "Just don't ask her any questions that you don't want a real answer to."
"The potion is working on me?" I asked. "I wasn't even that close."
"It's potent," Annika said. "And you're not used to being so close to such a strong ingredient."
"You mean the berries. What are they called?" I asked without thinking.
Because they were all standing around the cauldron breathing in the fumes from the potion too, they had no choice but to answer my question. "Apple of Knowledge," they said in unison.
Thunder crashed overhead and the pot flashed and rumbled.
"Oh, dear," Amelda said. "We shouldn't say that again, but we got lucky." She shot me a look.
"Sorry,” I said. "Wait, you mean like from the Garden of Eden? But you call it gooseberries."
"It's a code word," Meri said sarcastically.
"Oh, right," I answered, and then I thought of another question. "Hey, Amelda, why did your ancestors make Meri the Tuttlesmith familiar?"
"Oh, great," Meri said with a heavy sigh.
"Hey, cat, this was your idea," Remy said with a chuckle.
"Well," Amelda began, "you see, Meri hasn't always been a familiar. He used to be a powerful witch and a panther shifter. My grandmother was hopelessly in love with him and wanted to get married. She saw him propose to another witch, though, and the rest was history."
"Hey, that's not what happened," Meri protested. "No, I wasn't proposing to the other witch. Who was Amelda's aunt, by the way. She left that out. This potion needs more heat..." He paused. "But anyway, what happened was that I was on my way to propose to Amelda's grandmother. I had just picked up the ring, and the box containing it was in my pocket. Unfortunately, the universe had other ideas. I stepped off a curb wrong, and the box fell out and broke. I went for the ring, and when I tried to stand up, Amelda's aunt was right there. For a split second, it might have looked like I was proposing, and that's all her grandmother saw. The rest is kind of hazy. I woke up three days later in this cat body and in the service of the Tuttlesmith witches."
"That seems harsh," I said.
The rest of the potion making was kind of a blur. The smell coming from the cauldron intensified enough to make me woozy, but it eventually went away.
When we were done, Amelda broke the circle, and we went back inside. Remy carried the cauldron in using big brown potholders.
He set it down on the counter and used a winter incantation to cool the potion down immediately. I watched as Amelda ladled some of the mix into a plastic spray bottle. She put the lid on and held it out to me.
"Here you go."
"Thank you," I said.
"Be careful with that."
"I know," I said. "Don't use it around open flames."
"Don't ever use it to ask questions you don't want the answers to,” she said.
I got the feeling that wasn’t what she really meant. I knew I would never use it on Remy, and besides, I didn't think there were any questions I could ask him that I wouldn't want to know the truth. I'd seen his dark side, and I loved him anyway.
So, was she talking about my family? I guess I could have used it to find out why they had abandoned Aunt Maude, but Amelda was right. I really didn't want to know the answer to that. Something was wrong with my family, probably because they'd spent so much time denying what they really were, but I didn't need to know how deep it went.
Chapter Ten
We decided that the middle of the night was the best time to try and get answers at the hospital. Hospital administration wouldn't be there and there would be less staff overall.
We'd have fewer people to ask, but it would be easier to use the potion. There would be fewer prying eyes around to wonder what we were up to or ask us questions.
The hospital was quiet just like we expected. Our first order of business was to figure out where Finn had been in the hospital so we could talk to the nurses who had cared for him that night.
Our first encounter was a security guard. If it had been daytime hours, there would have been a volunteer at the welcome desk. We weren't that lucky at night.
The good news was that the security guard on duty didn't radiate pride in his job. He was behind a desk with his feet propped up and didn't bother to take them down when we approached. In front of him on the desk was what looked like a gallon bucket of soda, another bucket-sized order of French fries, and two double cheeseburgers. One of those was half-eaten, but he hadn't gotten to the other yet.
The guard eyed us when we approached the desk, but he didn't stop eating his fries.
"We're looking for information on a patient,” I said.
"It's almost midnight, lady," he said and shoved another fry into his mouth. "Come back during the day. Visiting hours are long over."
"I'm afraid it's somewhat urgent,” I said.
"ER is through there," he said and pointed down a hallway. "Follow the signs."
I was about to tell him that we weren't looking for someone in the emergency room, but he buzzed the door open for us. It was apparent that he wasn't going to be much help, so I decided we'd take our chances with someone in the hospital. I could have used the potion on him, but the hospital entry area felt too open and exposed. I wasn't comfortable, and I knew we'd have another opportunity.
Remy and Annika followed me in. I adjusted the straps of my bag on my shoulder when Meri shifted his weight. It might not have been the best idea to bring him into the hospital, but he wanted to be with us when we used the potion. I agreed with him on that point.
We didn't want to go to the emergency room but headed that direction anyway to avoid suspicion. Thankfully, between the entrance and the ER was a hallway that led to the hospital cafeteria.
"Let's go there and figure out a plan,” I said.
The cafeteria was open twenty-four hours, and none of the weary workers even batted an eye when we walked inside. There were only two other tables occupied. One by a doctor and nurse, and the other by an older woman doing a crossword puzzle.
We got coffee and sat down at a table. "We can't just wander around the hospital at this hour," I said.
"Maybe we can just find a computer and get the information," Annika whispered conspiratorially.
We didn't have to do either of those things. I took a sip of my coffee and watched as a custodian walked by the cafeteria windows.
"Let's ask him," I said. "I bet he knows more than just
about anybody here."
We followed the custodian for a couple of minutes until he was away from the cafeteria and the guard desk. He'd pushed his cart into a hallway that contained a row of administrative offices. I knew it was time to make our move because not only was it completely abandoned due to the hour, but there weren't any cameras either.
"Excuse me, sir," I said to get his attention.
He turned around to face us with the bottle of window cleaner and roll of paper towels he'd just picked up in his hands. "Yes?"
"We were hoping you could help us," I said.
"Help you with what? The cafeteria is back down that hallway and to your left, but I doubt that's what you need help with since I saw you in there. Everything else around here is closed at this hour,” he was looking at us through narrowed eyes full of suspicion.
"We're actually looking for information," I said.
"Oh, and what? You thought that since I'm just a janitor you could bribe me? You think you're the first people that have tried that? My suggestion to you would be to get on out of here before I call security."
"We weren't going to bribe you," I said. "We figured we'd ask you since you probably know more about this hospital than anyone else."
I hoped that paying him a compliment would help. He relaxed a little, but still reached for his radio.
"You have five seconds to explain yourself," he said.
What the custodian, whose nametag read Jim, didn't see was Annika pull the spray bottle of potion from her purse and spritz. I hoped it would be enough since she didn't spray it directly in his face, but as soon as the smell of the elixir hit my nose, I knew it would be enough. It also worked on me. We hadn't accounted for that.
"We're here looking for information on a patient who was probably murdered. His name was Finn Regan. We need to know what floor he was on and which nurses' station he was assigned to before he died," I said.
I wasn't very subtle, but then again, I didn't know if there was a way to ask it that was more subtle.
"Are you the police?" Jim asked.
"No, but we are trying to solve the murder," I said.
"Are you with the family?" Jim asked.
"Nope. We're not that either. Actually, he was stabbed at my house. We're the people who found them when they wandered out of the woods..." I was about to say more, but Remy interrupted me.
"Brighton, hey, that's probably enough information," he said.
The potion had time to take effect, and Jim relaxed. He even smiled a little bit. "You sound like you're in a pickle, young lady. I do happen to know who you are talking about. He was on the fifth floor, and I believe you'll want to check with the nurses at the north station for information."
"Thank you, Jim," I said. "We really appreciate your candor."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.
"Nope, that's all we needed."
As we walked down the hall away from Jim, I realized we probably should have asked where the elevators were. I didn't know. I'd never been in that particular hospital before.
"We should have asked him where the elevators were," I mused.
"It's okay," Annika responded. "I know where they are. Follow me."
The fifth floor was the top floor of the small, local hospital. It was completely silent other than the beeping and whirring of various machines. Those sounds echoed through the halls with no other noise to compete. It was also darker than I expected. For some reason, I thought that they'd have all of the lights on all day and night, but they'd been turned down.
We found the north nurses' station pretty easily by following the signs. There was only one woman sitting behind it, and she didn't look happy to see us.
"You have got to be kidding me," she said and reached for the phone.
"Please don't call security," I said.
I assumed that's what she was about to do, and I nudged Annika. She needed to go ahead and use the spray sooner rather than later.
"We just need some information, please. It's important."
"It must be if you're up here on my floor in the middle of the night,” she said, but to my relief, she hadn't picked up the phone yet.
I was about to speak again when a red light on a dash lit up. There were numbers next to each light, and I assumed those were the call lights. I'd assumed correctly.
"I need to see a patient. You guys just wait right here." She made a point of pointing at the security camera watching us too.
A minute later, our luck changed. Another nurse walked out of a patient room and smiled at us. She was much younger and looked far more accommodating. All we had to do was get her to spill the info we needed before Nurse Hatchet came back.
"You folks look lost," the new nurse said. "How can I help you guys?"
She was sweet and unassuming. Our task was going to be entirely too easy, and I should have felt bad. Instead, I was just happy we'd caught a break.
"We're actually not lost," I said and leaned across the desk. "We need information," I whispered. "We're hoping to talk to someone who helped take care of Finn Regan."
"Oh, I wish I could help you," she said sadly. "You're the woman who saved him and his wife. I saw your picture on the news. But I can't. We can't give out patient information."
I heard Annika spritz the bottle of potion and a split second later smelled its aroma. "You know, I still think you might be able to help me. You see, I don't need any of his medical information. I just need to know if he woke up at any time and talked to anyone. Maybe he said something about what happened to him, or why he was attacked,” I said hopefully.
"Well.." the nurse said and bit her bottom lip. "As far as I know, he never woke up. Not completely, anyway."
"What do you mean?" I pressed.
"Sometimes when I would go in to take his vitals, he would mumble. Most of it was just gibberish, but a few times, I heard him saying: I'm sorry, Joanna. And he would sound really upset like he was begging for forgiveness."
That was interesting.
"Was there anything else?" I asked. "Please, anything you can think of would help. We just want to know what happened so there can be some justice in this case."
"He never said it when she was in there with him," the nurse said. "Not the times I was in there, and I was in there a lot. I wasn't quite comfortable when she was in there with him."
"What? You mean his wife, Joanna?" I asked. I'd completely forgotten to ask it, but at least the nurse had brought it up on her own. "She was allowed in to see him?"
"I wouldn't say allowed. Before she was formally arrested, she came up here. They never posted a guard at his door, so she just walked right in. There wasn't anything we could do about it. I was on the mid-shift that day too. I work swing shifts for the extra money whenever I can, you see. So I was here during the afternoon that day. I called security, but since she hadn't been charged with anything, we couldn't kick her out. She sat by his bed and held his hand. I watched her whispering in his ear and smiling. I don't know what she said, though. I just know I never heard him respond. It was only when she wasn't around that he'd speak."
The conversation with the nurse left me with more questions than answers, but we saw Nurse Hatchet coming back and skedaddled. It was clear as mud what had happened in their relationship, and I knew we'd need another way to get information.
"What if we held a seance and asked him?" I suggested as Remy drove us home. "I'm sure it will be fine with the three of us and Meri."
"But can we count on his spirit to tell us the truth?" Remy asked. "I don't know if we can."
"Or we could just check Joanna's social media," Annika offered.
"You're right. One of those ladies at the chicken place said something about how there is so much information about people online. Maybe that was a sign and I didn't see it."
"I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner," Annika said.
"Because we don't spend much time on social media," I offered.
"Y
ou guys, we can check and all, but do you really think people are honest on those websites?"
"They might not be," Annika said, "but the people who make comments could be. We could find out a lot by seeing what shade is being thrown at the two of them."
And so it was decided. Our next step was to check Joanna's Bookface account as soon as we got home. Or, rather, as soon as we got some sleep.
When I woke up the next morning, Annika had my laptop at the kitchen table. She looked like she was deeply engrossed in what she was doing, and I startled her a little when I came in.
"Hey, have you seen Meri? He wasn't on my bed when I woke up."
"Oh, yeah, he came down here when I did. He wanted breakfast, so I fed him. He said he got a whole box of that precooked bacon. I wasn't sure, but he said it was what you gave him."
"Tattletale," Meri groused from one of the kitchen chairs.
"I knew it," Annika said. "You're such a scam artist."
"You guys play nice," I said with a chuckle. "Do you want some breakfast, Annika?"
"Oh, I was hoping you'd ask. I'm starving, but I got sucked into reading Joanna's Bookface page."
"Anything useful?" I asked.
"I don't know. She did a lot of vaguebooking."
"What's that?"
"Wow, you really don't know anything about social media," Annika teased. "Okay, that's where someone makes a post like worst day of my life. Don't want to talk about it. Or, relationships can really tear you apart. Please don't ask me about it."
"She did that?"
"A lot," Annika said.
"Wow, that's annoying. People actually do that?"
"A lot."
"Why would people do that? It makes no sense,” I said.
"They want people to beg them to talk about it," Annika answered.
"Now you know why I don't know much about social media."
Broom and Gloom Page 7